RJ Barrett could not wait to get back on track after his 2 or 15 brickfest Saturday against the Sixers in the home team.
It was the perfect time for a rugby match in Barrett’s eyes – even if it was against the Eastern Conference favorite, the Bucks.
Barrett put the Philadelphia fiasco in the rearview mirror and made a strong outing that matches his performances in the preseason and in the season opener. In the Knicks’ 130-110 shock over Milwaukee Sunday, Barrett was once again a caper, scoring 17 points with eight rebounds and four assists. He was also a plus-21.
“You want to go to court again as soon as possible,” Barrett said. “I was definitely excited to have this opportunity today.”
Barrett watches the movie of the Philadelphia game, in which he misses his first nine shots and does not fascinate. The irony is that Barrett made his first nine shots in the season opener against Indiana.
“The best advice was for myself – that I would have another one tomorrow,” Barrett said. “I’m not the only person who’s had a bad shooting night. I was very pleased with the result. ”
Coach Tom Thibodeau said he liked Barrett’s attitude a lot.
“Just aggression,” Thibodeau said. ‘If you do not make shots, you can not allow it to affect other parts of your game. He had a great first game. If you have such a game, you will get attention. You need to read the game and how they play you. You have to use their aggressiveness in a way that is to our team’s advantage. He does this with penetrating motives and pressures on the defense and forces defense to collapse. ”
Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo barely enjoyed this visit to the garden and not just because the Bucks lost.
The Greek Freak, who recently signed a contract extension to stay in Milwaukee for another five years, finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.
“It does not feel right – the most famous arena without a crowd,” said Antetokounmpo. ‘Usually I see 20 Greek flags when I come here, people cheer, basically the whole Greek community comes out to support me and my team. It’s always delicious. The garden always has this nice energy, and tonight it was empty. The next time we get in the garden, it’s hopefully full. ”
Although the Knicks announced forward Obi Toppin will be reevaluated in 7-10 days, Thibodeau sounded as if their rookie lottery could be as much as two weeks with a calf strain – if not longer.
Toppin exacerbated a previously unknown calf injury in the season opener, Thibodeau said. The rehabilitation process can cause Toppin to put no pressure on his leg for a week, which affects its conditioning. Toppin will not practice again in 2020.
“If you miss that kind of time, with that kind of injury, there will be a period for him to start playing fast again,” Thibodeau said. “And of course, with a calf, you can’t run or jump, so the conditioning component will compete with that.”
It should be noted the last time a Knicks rookie stretched a calf, it was not good. Allonzo Trier, in 2018-’19, spent the last 3 weeks of his rookie season with a calf strain. Toppin missed his second consecutive game on Sunday. Between now and Jan. 11, the Knicks are playing eight more games. That could mean Toppin misses a total of ten games.
Austin Rivers, the free agent, is expected to practice his first contact session on Monday. He missed all four preseason games with a groin and almost the entire training camp.
According to sources, Thibodeau intends to keep him in rotation again according to the sources. … Point guard Dennis Smith Jr., who looked uninspiring in his 17-minute season debut on Saturday, missed Sunday’s game with a bruised quadruple.